Hair brush cleaner



June 16, 1964 Filed Nov. 19, 1963 G. E. KLINGE ETAL HAIR BRUSH CLEANER 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. a.

BY Gerald E 1 87 /ZMM INVENTORS. No1/man H. Vogel. Sr.

. Klinge and Norman H. Vogel, Jr.

#Hamm S June 16, 1964 G. E. KLINGE ETAL HAIR BRUSH CLEANER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 19, 1965 INVENTORS. Norman H. Vogel, S1'. BYGerald E. Klinge and Norman H. Vogel, Jr. gmwwgwa/M orngjs o UnitedStates Patent HAIR BRUSH CLEANER Gerald'E.`Klinge, 5 637 Dunk Drive,Norman H. Vogel, Jr., 326 E. Bangor Drive, and Normanl-I. Vogel, Sr.,262 E. Bangor Drive, all of Indianapolis,lnd. Y Filed Nov. 19, 1963,Ser. No..324,671

,5 Claims. (Cl. 15-310) iinvention relates generally to cleaning andsani- Vtizing and sterilizing devices for beauty shops yand barbernsho`ps,and more particularly to. a device for cleaning,

,sanitizing and sterilizing hair brushes and the like.

In beauty Shops, -it`is necessary for the proprietors to maintainasubstantial supply of hair brushes and combs.

'fThisfis necessitated largely by the fact that it is dini- "cult'toremove hair thoroughly from hair brushes and .fit is a `time consumingtask. Typically, `it is done by raking a comb through the hair brush andthen removing the hair from the comb by hand. Not only is it time coni`suming but it is also unsanitary. Particularly is this true "becauseofthe resiliency of bristlesrof a brush and their` f "'A further'object isto providea device achieving the p vj foregoing objects and facilitatingthe sterilization and drying1of brushes.

iDescribed brielly,.a typical embodiment ofthe present inventionincorporates a housing having two compart- -'ments, with an air pump inone compartment and a collection bag in the other compartment. Theairpump discharges into a sterilizer lunit andV draws air through the lcollection bag to which air is admitted by a nozzle arrangement. Y l

` -A cover is provided'on the bag containing compartyin ent and servesas a mount for the nozzle. VThe bagfhas a nozzle mounting arrangementreceivable on the portion of the nozzle projecting into the `secondcompartment and readily mounted to and removed from the pro- `jectingAnozzle portion.` Thecoverl to which the nozzle is mounted is'movablertoa position exposing to the outj sidethe bag and mounting tting tofacilitate'installation and removal.

The entrance of the nozzlev is shaped and provided with notches "and `acomb fitting 'to not only eifectively andw completely remove `debrisfrom hair brushes but alsoV fto facilitate the handling of a hair brushin passing it I across the nozzle. A

The full nature-of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying drawings scription and`claims. i f

FIG'. lis a perspective view of a typical embodiment :of the presentinvention. o

FIG. 2 is a section therethrough taken along the line 2-2 `and viewed inthe direction of the arrows.

,y FIG. 3 is a section illustrating the bag and nozzle mountingrarrangement, the section being taken along `the line ,3-'- 3 inFIG. 2`and viewedin thedirection `of the arrows. FIG. 4`is a `-section takenalong the line 4 4 in FIG.` 1 and viewed in the directionV of thearrows, this section Q illustrating one manner of mounting the covertothe main p portion of the housing and sealing it thereto.

FIG. 5 isan enlargement of a portion of FIG.'2. fReferring to thedrawings in detail, the housing includes parallel upstanding side walls12 and 13, and parallel upland the following dev part of the length ofthe cabinet. member or lid 19 completes the exterior of the main housingand is disposed on an incline upwardly from the `front of the unittoward the rear of the unit.1 f

o 3,137,023 y 'PatentedJune .16, .1954` the entire length and Width ofthe housing or cabinet,

whereas the principal portion of the top 18 extends only A removablecover A bulkhead 21 is provided in the housingdividing the interiorthereof `into two major compartments 22 and 23.

. In the compartment 22 there is a combination motor and blower 24 toserve as an air'pump. The specic arrangement of the motorandblower'isnot important to the invention so long as the air pump comprises means`for moving ain The air'pump` has an inlet duct 25 and an outletg26. Theinlet is provided with a flange 27 engaging a plate 28. The bulkhead21and plate 28 sandwich a screen29j therebetween and the bulkhead has anaperture 31 therein communicating through the screen with the aperture32 in the plate 28 which communicates .with theinterior of the duct 25.Air flow can thereby 20- be established by the pump through the aperture31, screen 29, and aperture 32. In thismanner, air is drawn from thechamber 23 through the -pump and discharged through the outlet 2,6.Assuming that Vthe chamber 23wer completely closed, a very high vacuumcould be established therein by the pump operation.. As a matter offact, this feature is utilized by mounting a nozzle 33 on the cover 19.

The cover 19 is generally rectangularin form andhas "a mitered surface34 along ,the upper marginal edge thereof and a mitered surface 36 alongthe lower marginal edge thereof; The lower surface 37 is planar andextends `from a horizontal edge 38 (FIG. 5 down to the horizontal p edge39. At theedge 39, a 9step '4l-is provided leaving a sealing surface 42`which rests onfthe sealing member43 which issecured to the miteredupper end surface A44 of the `front wall 16. 'p v f f As shown best inFIG. j4, a similar step 46 is provided y adjacent the side margin 47 ofthe lid. A sealing surface 48,. parallel to theV surface 37, between themargin 47 and step 46 rests upo-nthe gasket 49 which is secured4 byadhesive or ,other suitablemeans `to the upstanding side wall 12. Anidentical construction is provided at the opposite sidewall. f

The upper fixed portion 18 of the housing vover- ,hangs ythe miteredupper marginal surface 34 of the lid, and the step 41 can engage theupper `edge of the mitered upper surface 44 of the front wall 16 of thehousing. Therefore',` the lid can be snapped into place by V-firstinserting the surface 34 under` the overhanging top portion at 51,andpressing the lid rearwardly and upwardly against the gasket 52-untilit is possible to snap the lower edge 39 of the step 41 over the upperedge of the upper surface 44 of thefront wall.. The lid will then remainsecurely inplace,1 being sealed all around by `the various gaskets, justdescribed. Therefore, unless Va nozzle is provided in the lid or someother aperture were provided in the compartment 23, there wouldbe noplace forair to enter the compartment 23 when the pumpis operating i fAccording .to an important feature of theipresentinvention, the'nozzle33 is Vmountedto .the lid( This nozzle has a generally rectangularconfiguration as shown in FIGA,

A' land ismounted by means ofthe flange `53 resting on the gasketV 54(...Four screws 55` may be provided to secure the llangefto thelid. Inlieu -of the gasket illustrated, gasket cement orV a perfect lit can beprovided, thejntention being that no air flowthrough the generallyrectangular aperture Soin the lid be possible, other than that Appassing through the interior of the nozzle.

.1. standing end walls 14 andjl. The bottom 17 extends Asbest observed`in FIG. 2, the generally rectangular inlet opening 57 of the nozzleinlet portion 58 is preferably disposed at a steeper slope thanntheslope of the in- -clined lid to which the nozzle is mounted. ThisVfacilitates drawing'o'f a brush across the nozzle in the direction ofthe arrow 59 which is downwardly and toward the front of the housing.

A comb element 61 is mounted on the inside surface .of the nozzle bymeans of a rivet 62 or the like, and includes comb teeth spaced alongthe lower marginal edge 63 of the inlet opening. These teeth begin in adirection perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of the cover,this and lower inside faces 66 and 67 respectively of the nozzle.

- The teeth then curve upwardly as at 68, and their distal bristles `donot become engaged by the notches but are engaged by the upper edge 72directly, not all of the bristles are bent upwardly at thek same time,thus achieving abetter and random spreading of the bristles as the brushis drawn across the nozzle opening, thereby achieving a better removalof debris from within each group of bristles. The comb is quiteeffective to remove hair and other debris, and the upward curve ofthecomb keeps all hair and debris removed directly in line with the airflow into the nozzle whereupon all debris is pulled into the nozzlewithout any falling outside of the nozzle. It is usually desirable tohave the width of the nozzle inlet between the side margins 73 and 74thereof to be approximatelyequal to or less than the average width ofbrushes to be cleaned by the device.

'As previously mentioned, a debris collection bag 76 is being-parallelto a plane 64 equidistant between the upper provided in :the chamber 23.An important feature of this invention is the means of mounting the bagto the nozzle to retain it securely in place and yet facilitateinstallation and removal thereof. To this end, a generally rectangularmounting board 77 is secured by adhesive or other suitable means to thesurface 79 of the bag. This maybe the end of a somewhat conventionalvacuum cleaner dirt collection bag, the bag 76 being composed of thesame or a similar type of air permeable material. The end of the bag maybe of rather conventional construction. However, it has a generallyrectangular aperture 81 therein. The mounting of the board 77 to the endof the bag is preferably by means of adhesive because an air seal isthereby obtained therebetween.

The board 77, which is typically made of a fibrous material, has agenerally rectangular aperture 82 therein registering with the aperture81 in the end of the bag. As is apparent in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, the upperand lower margins 83 and 84, respectively of the board extend wellbeyondthe margins 86 and 87 of the bag.

A retainer board 88 is mounted to the upper surface of the mountingboard 77, and both of these boards may be made of a fibrous materialsuch as heavy paperboard approximately 1A@ inch thick, for example. Ifdesired, the boards could beplastic or metal. A feasible means ofattaching'the two boards together is by means of an adhesive, and agenerally rectangular rubber gasket 89 is sandwiched therebetweenvadjacent the aperture 82m the board 77..- This gasket has a generallyrectangular aperture 91 therein embracing the entire` outer perimeter ofthe portion of the nozzle extending through the aperture 56 in the lid19. This is illustrated in FIG. 3 and y119 in the side thereof.

effect, a retaining fiange 99 extends entirely around the outletopeningof the nozzle, the dimensions of this flange being just slightly smallerthan the interior dimensions of the aperture 101 in the board 88. Also,it is to be noted that the dimension between the step 97 and theunderside 102 of the upper flange of-the nozzle is such that a space 104is provided between the lower surface 37 of the lid and the upper face106 of the board 88.

The advantages of this novel bag mounting arrangement will now becomeapparent. By providing an aperture 101 in the-board 88 approximately thesame size but just slightlylarger than the flange 99 at the lower oroutlet end of the nozzle, the board 88 can be aligned with the lower endof the nozzle when the bag is pushed onto the nozzle in thedirection'ofvthe arrow 107. By so doing, the aperture in the rubbergasket 89 is centered on the nozzle flange and will not be excessivelystretched in any direction duringthe installation of the bag. Moreover,once the inner edges or lips of the gasket has snapped over the step 97,the inner face 108 of the board 88 immediately adjacent'theaperturetherein provides a brace or support for the rubber and prevents the b'agfrom being blown off the nozzle whenthe bag becomes comparatively fullof'debris. The proper dimension accommodating the space 104 facilitatesinstalling the bag or pushing it upwardly sufficiently toward thesurface 37 that complete snapping of the gasket over the step all theway around the gasket aperture is readily achieved.

By providing an appropriate thickness of the board 88, the upper surface109of the board 77 is appropriately spaced at all times from the` insideface 37.0f the lid to f enable the projection-of fingertips into thespace 111 to "facilitate the removal of the bag by pulling .away fromthe lid in the direction of the arrow 112. By extending possibletofacilitate the mounting of the bag on the nozzle. l

By having the bag disposed at an angle with respect to the .screen 29against whichit is usually pulled during operating of the pump, debristends to collect in the lower frontal area of the bag as indicated byreference numeral 113 in FIG. 2. This means, that until the bag is quite`full there will continue to be an adequate high flowfof air through thebag ntofthe pump and consequently through the nozzle into the bag. Thisachieves a continuous .high vacuum `for a long periody of time withoutthenecessity-of removing the bag. As shown in FIG. -1, a sterilizerapparatus 116 is mounted to the rightmarket A duct 118 is :providedbetween the sterilizer apparatus and the pump outlet 26 of FIG. 2whereby the air discharged from the pump is forced into the steril-12er. This is useful to dry brushes and combs. Air outlet from thesterilizer can be attained by the openings It .will be recognized that avariety of sterilizers can be employed according to the novel concept ofthis-invention.

gest themselves to persons skilled in this art and Within The inventionclaimed i's: 1. A hair brush cleaner comprising: a case having rst andsecond compartments therein, with said vsecond compartment havingsidewalls with inclined upper margins, and a roof overhanging the upperends'of said inclined margins; an .air pump'in said rst compartment and-having an inlet communicating with said second compartment and anoutletcommunicating with a sterilizer and `drier mounted to"Acasewhereby air is drawn from .said second Vcompartment anddischarged-through said sterilizer 4and drier to atmosphere; a generallyplanar sloping roof member on said second compartment and having anaperture therein and having a step resting on an upper margin of an endwall of said section compartment; means sealing said roof member to saidend wall, side walls, and said roof; a nozzle in said roof member andhaving VaY tubular inlet portion of generally rectangular cross sectionand disposed at the exterior of said case and a tubular outlet portionof generally rectangular cross section and extending through saidaperture into the said second compartment and having a generallyrectangular outlet opening, the inlet portion having a generallyrectangular inlet opening disposed at an angle with respect to the planeof said roof member, the upper margin of said inlet opening having aplurality of notches spaced therealong, the outer surface of said outletportion having a step therearound adjacent said outlet opening and beinglarger on the sideof the step near the outlet opening of said outletportion than on the side of the step near the inlet opening of saidinlet portion; a plural ity of comb teeth spaced along the lower marginof said inlet opening and iirst extending perpendicular to` the plane ofsaid roo-f member and then extending curvilinearly toward distal endsabove said inlet opening of said inlet portion and at an elevation belowthe upper margin of said inlet opening, thedistal ends of said teethlying adjacent an imaginary plane normal to the plane of said roo-fmember, said imaginary plane being equidistant from said upper and lowermargins; and an air permeable refuse collection bag in said secondcompartment, said bag having a single and generally rectangular openingreceiving the said outlet portion of said nozzle; a rst generally planarboard sealingly secured to said bag and having a generally rectangularaperture in registry with said opening in said bag, said board havingmarginal portions extending beyond opposite margins of said bag tofacilitate installation and removal of said bag on said outlet portion;a second board mounted on the upper face of said rst board and having anaperture sized to fittingly receive said larger surface of said nozzleoutlet portions; and a flexible seal having a portion sandwiched betweenand sealingly secured to said boards and having a portion sealinglyengaging the perimeter of said outlet portion between said step and saidroot` member, the aperture in said second board having. dimensionsgreater than the aperture in said first board to accommodate flexing ofsaid perimeter engaging portion of said seal more easily in a directiontoward said bag than away from said bag to facilitate attachment of saidbag to said nozzle and prevent unintentional separation of said bag fromsaid nozzle, the upper surface of said iirst board being spaced from theinside face o-f said roof member to accommodate insertion of fingertipstherebetween to facilitate removal of said bag from said nozzle outletportion; means sealing said nozzle to said roof member; said roof memberbeing movable to open said -second compartment and expose the insideface of said roof member to facilitate installation and removal of saidbag on said nozzle outlet portion.

2. A hair brush cleaner comprising: a case having rst and secondchambers therein; an air pump in said iirst chamber and having an inletcommunicating with said second chamber and an outlet discharging toatmosphere 6 whereby air-is drawnfrom'said secondchamber and dis chargedto atmosphere; a'movable member on said case forming a` margin of saidsecond chamber and having an aperture therein; a nozzle in said memberand having a i i tubular inletrportion beginning with `an inlet openingdisposed at the exterior of said case, 4and said nozzle Yhaving atubularoutlet portion extending through said `aperture land terminatingwith an outlet opening in said second chamber; a plurality of comb teethspaced along a margin of said inlet opening and extending in front of aportion of said inlet opening; and an air permeable refuse collectionbag in said second chamber, said bag having an opening receiving thesaid outlet portion of said nozzle; a board secured to said bag andhaving an aperture in registry with said opening in said bag, said boardhaving marginal portions extending beyond opposite margins of said bagto facilitate installation and removal of said bag on said outletportion; and a flexible seal sealed to said bag and sealingly engagingthe perimeter of said outlet portion, the exterior of said nozzle beingsealed to said movable member, said movable member being movable to opensaid second chamber and expose the said collection bag to facilitateinstallation of said bag on said nozzle outlet portion and removal ofsaid bag from said nozzle outlet portion. i

3. In a hair brush cleaner, the combination comprising: a case having acompartment therein; an air pump having an inlet communicating with saidcompartment and an outlet discharging to atmosphere whereby air is drawnfrom said compartment and discharged to atmosphere; a movable member onsaid case forming a margin of said compartment and having an aperturetherein; a nozzle in said member and having an inlet lportion beginningwith an inlet opening disposed at the exterior of said case, and saidnozzle having an outlet portion extending through said aperture andhaving an outlet opening in said compartment; a comb extending in frontof aportion of said inlet opening; and an air permeable refusecollection bag in said compartment, said bag having an opening receivingthe said outlet portion of said nozzle; a board secured to said bag andhaving an aperture in registry with said opening in said bag, said boardhaving a marginal portion extending beyond a margin of said b ag tofacilitate installation and removal of said bag on said outlet portion;and a flexible seal sealed to said bag and sealingly engaging saidoutlet portion, said movable member being movable to open saidcompartment and expose the said collection bag to facilitateinstallation of said bag on said nozzle outlet portion and removal ofsaid bag from said outlet portion.

4. In a hair brush cleaner, the combination comprising: a case having acompartment therein; an air pump having an inlet communicating with saidcompartment and an outlet discharging to atmosphere whereby air is drawnfrom said compartment and discharged to atmosphere;

p an aperture in said case; a nozzle having an inlet portion beginningwith an inlet opening disposed at the exterior of said case, and saidnozzle having an outlet portion extending through said `aperture andhaving an outlet opening in said compartment; a plurality of comb teethextending in front of a portion of said inlet opening; and refusecollection means including an air permeable refuse collection bag insaid compartment, saidbag having an opening receiving the said Youtletportion of said nozzle, board means secured to said bag adjacent saidopening in said bag, said board having marginal portions extendingbeyond opposite margins of said bag to facilitate installation andremoval of said bag on said outlet portion, and a flexible seal sealedto said bag' and having a portion sealingly engaging and slidable on theperimeter of said outlet portion, and means on said outlet portionengagable with a portion of said collection means to retain saidcollection means on said outlet portion.

5. In a hair brush cleaner, the combination comprising: a case having acompartment therein; an air pump having an -inlet communicating vWithsaid compartment and an loutlet discharging Vto atmosphere whereby airis drawn 4from said compartment anddischarged to atmosphere; an aperturein said case; a nozzle having-an inlet porltion having an inlet openingdisposed at-the exterior of saidnozzle, and-a'exihle seal sealedto saidcontainer and having a portion sealingly engaging'the perimeter of saidoutlet portion, and means engageable'with-a portion "ofsaidfcollectionmeans to'retain said collection means -5 on said outlet portion.

References-Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS MorseJune 25, 1935 k1() v2,781,103 Daiger et al Feb. l2, 1957 3,009,188Martin Nov. 21, 1961 -3,030,650 Kiraly Apr. 24, 1962

5. IN A HAIR BRUSH CLEANER, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING: A CASE HAVING ACOMPARTMENT THEREIN; AN AIR PUMP HAVING AN INLET COMMUNICATING WITH SAIDCOMPARTMENT AND AN OUTLET DISCHARGING TO ATMOSPHERE WHEREBY AIR IS DRAWNFROM SAID COMPARTMENT AND DISCHARGED TO ATMOSPHERE; AN APERTURE IN SAIDCASE; A NOZZLE HAVING AN INLET PORTION HAVING AN INLET OPENING DISPOSEDAT THE EXTERIOR OF SAID CASE, AND SAID NOZZLE HAVING AN OUTLET PORTIONEXTENDING THROUGH SAID APERTURE AND HAVING AN OUTLET OPENING IN SAIDCOMPARTMENT; A PLURALITY OF COMB TEETH EXTENDING IN FRONT OF A PORTIONOF SAID INLET OPENING; AND REFUSE COLLECTION MEANS INCLUDING A CONTAINERHAVING AN AIR PERMEABLE PORTION IN SAID COMPARTMENT, SAID CONTAINERHAVING AN OPENING RECEIVING THE SAID OUTLET PORTION OF SAID NOZZLE, ANDA FLEXIBLE SEAL SEALED TO SAID CONTAINER AND HAVING A PORTION SEALINGLYENGAGING THE PERIMETER OF SAID OUTLET PORTION, AND MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITHA PORTION OF SAID COLLECTION MEANS TO RETAIN SAID COLLECTION MEANS ONSAID OUTLET PORTION.